Haggai 1
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, ruler of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
In the second year of the reign of king Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the Lord sent a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
2 These are the words of the Lord of armies: These people say, The time has not come for building the Lord's house.
The Lord Almighty says this: the people say, “This isn't the proper time to rebuild the Lord's house.”
3 Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Then the Lord sent a message through the prophet Haggai, saying,
4 Is it a time for you to be living in roofed houses while this house is a waste?
Is it the proper time for you to live in your paneled houses while this house remains a ruin?
5 For this cause the Lord of armies has said, Give thought to your ways.
So the Lord Almighty says this: Think about what you're doing!
6 Much has been planted, but little got in; you take food, but have not enough; you take drink, but are not full; you are clothed, but no one is warm; and he who gets payment for his work, gets it to put it into a bag full of holes.
You have sown much but harvested little. You eat but you're still hungry. You drink but you're still thirsty. You put on clothes but you're still cold. You work hard to earn money but put it in a bag full of holes.
7 This is what the Lord of armies has said: Give thought to your ways.
The Lord Almighty says this: Think about what you're doing!
8 Go up to the hills and get wood and put up the house; and I will take pleasure in it and be honoured, says the Lord.
Go into the hills and bring wood to build the house. This will please me and honor me, says the Lord.
9 You were looking for much, and it came to little; and when you got it into your house, I took it away with a breath. Why? says the Lord of armies. Because of my house which is a waste, while every man takes care of the house which is his.
You were hoping for so much, but look, it turned out to be so little. Everything you brought home I blew away. And why was that? Because my house remains a ruin while you are preoccupied with building your own houses, declares the Lord Almighty.
10 For this cause the heaven over you is kept from giving dew, and the earth from giving her fruit.
That's why the clouds of heaven refused to send rain, and the earth refused to produce crops.
11 And by my order no rain came on the land or on the mountains or the grain or the wine or the oil or the produce of the earth or on men or cattle or on any work of man's hands.
I called for a drought on the land, on the hills, on the grain fields, on the vineyards, and on the olive groves—on whatever the earth produces—and on people and livestock, on everything you do!
12 Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the rest of the people, gave ear to the voice of the Lord their God and to the words of Haggai the prophet, because the Lord their God had sent him, and the people were in fear before the Lord.
Then Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, together with all the remaining people, paid attention to what the Lord said, and to the words of Haggai the prophet that the Lord their God had sent. The people showed reverence before the Lord.
13 Then Haggai, whom the Lord had sent to give his words to the people, said, I am with you, says the Lord.
Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, delivered this message from the Lord telling the people, I am with you! says the Lord.
14 And the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, ruler of Judah, was moved by the Lord, as was the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of armies, their God.
The Lord inspired Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the remaining people. They came and began work on the house of the Lord Almighty.
15 On the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
This happened on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of the reign of king Darius.
